“I carry in my right hand war, and peace in my left... Here is a bloody belt and a white one. Take which you please.” — Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark to assembled chiefs at Cahokia, Illinois, 1778 * Clark’s big reveal of the mission of his tiny force did not go particularly well. A score of his men deserted that night and attempted to make … [Read more...] about ‘A Few Men Well Conducted’ — The Battles Of The Long Knife — Part II

He was the frontier warrior the Indians most feared — The Long Knife: a killer, a conqueror, a burner of cornfields. George Rogers Clark was, with the possible exception of Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan, the most effective military commander the Americans fielded during the Revolutionary War. And, like Arnold, Clark was ill-treated by a … [Read more...] about The Battles Of The Long Knife — Part I

Perhaps the oldest Frontier Partisans tale of them all is unfolding on screen this month. An Alpine backpacker later named Ötzi was stalked and killed by an arrow in the Italian Alps more than 5,000 years ago. His assailant: unknown. Motive: undetermined (though intact kit tends to rule out robbery). Ötzi may have been the victim of a mountain … [Read more...] about The Iceman Cometh

Me and my mates are rehearsing for a St. Paddy’s gig, so naturally we’re polishing up a set of Celtic-flavored songs. My own Shoot Straight You Bastards. Steve Earle’s Galway Girl. Charlie Robison’s John O’Reilly. Dropkick Murphys’ Rose Tattoo. Gaelic Storm’s magnificent privateer epic Lover’s Wreck. And Whiskey in the Jar. Popularized by The … [Read more...] about Ballads Of The Frontier Partisans — There’s Whiskey In The Jar

By Captain Paul McNamee Frontier Partisans New England Ranging Company (Editor’s Note: Captain McNamee has a particular interest in the wilds of South America. His report on the Roosevelt-Rondon expedition has been recovered from a chest full of documents that was dredged from the River of Lost Souls after a dugout overturned during the … [Read more...] about Roosevelt, Rondon, and Tarzan: The Brazilian Frontier

By Rick Schwertfeger, Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command This is  Rick Schwertfeger’s seventh article on backcountry, irregular and militia partisans in the American Revolution. * As 5,000 British Redcoats marched down Schraalenburgh’s New Bridge Road on November 21, 1776, a day behind the retreating, disheveled American … [Read more...] about Savage Civil War in New Jersey During the American Revolution

The trapline is full this month. March promises a mountain of plews. Mind yer topknot, keep yer powder dry — and enjoy it all. Frank Hamer gets his due on screen. Netflix— March 29. Hamer, a former Texas Ranger, led the law enforcement cadre that took out Bonnie and Clyde. It’s high time that Hamer became the focus of this story. Bonnie and … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — March 2019

Of all the ghosts that haunt the Red Road, Has-kay-bay-nay-ntayl is perhaps the most tragic. Known to his contemporaries and to history as The Apache Kid, he looked fair to successfully negotiate the rocky and treacherous path between the culture of his birth and the dominant Anglo-American culture he ably served as a scout. But, as it did for too … [Read more...] about The Wild Ones — Part III — The Apache Kid

On the morning of February 23, 1779, — 240 years ago this day — 19 young soldiers walked through the gates of Fort Laurens in the Ohio country to cut wood and round up some stray horses. They were chilled and hungry and many of them were suffering from toothaches and other aches and pains that were the common afflictions of life and work on the … [Read more...] about Tactical Trauma